This year, there have been some nice trends in the best outdoor Bluetooth speakers: “True stereo,” which lets you pair two speakers at once and play the left channel in one and the right in the other, is available in more and more models. While it may be a clever way of selling you two speakers instead of one, it makes the experience more like sitting in front of your home hi-fi system. Meanwhile, battery life keeps on improving across the board, and it’s kind of stunning how water-resistant these devices have become: All of the speakers below have an ingress rating of at least IP57, which means they can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. If you’ve ever combined a swimming hole and a large dog in the same outing, you know why this matters. All of which makes the new speakers highlighted here some of the best ever for your adventures. Here are reviews of seven of our current favorite outdoor Bluetooth speakers, depending on your needs and budget.
Update July 2025: We’ve tested and selected new Bluetooth speakers in two of our seven categories, including a new best all-around pick of the Brane X, and updated prices and availability for all.
At a Glance
Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker Overall
Brane X
$499 at Amazon $499 at Brane Audio
Pros and Cons
⊕ More bass than you’ll believe possible
⊕ Wi-Fi connectivity
⊗ Makes funny noises on startup
⊗ Touch controls are overly sensitive
It’s rare that a product has so much crossover appeal that it’s nearly impossible to categorize—labels be damned. The Brane X is an ingenious piece of technology that transitions neatly from a bookshelf-style speaker for your desktop to a backyard DJ boom box to a travel companion for a remote lakeshore, where, as one tester said, it produces bass that can “scare away the bears.” This versatility and its surprising power are what led our testers to name it the best outdoor Bluetooth speaker we tested.
The reason this 7.7-pound unit has such outsize power is magnets. Specifically, it’s the first Bluetooth speaker with a subwoofer, which relies on a Repel-Attract Driver (RAD), a patented technology that employs specially designed magnets that cancel internal air pressure and allow it to produce deeper bass than was previously possible.
In practice, the results are impressive: Played at lower volumes, it produces fine detail that is as good as anything that comes out of a Bose product. But when you pump up the volume, you can hear bass notes that reach lower into the audio spectrum. It’s safe to say nothing we’ve seen at this size (under ten inches wide) has been able to create such a rumble way down deep in your belly.
The Brane X can connect with your home Wi-Fi, eliminating the problem of your Bluetooth speaker glitching out during a party because you stepped outside to fetch ice. This feature also makes streaming music over a subscription service or using the built-in Alexa voice assistant easier and more reliable.
And yes, despite its urban looks, the Brane X can withstand water, dust, and a fair bit of rough handling: Its IP57 rating means it can survive in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. A 12-hour battery life is respectable, given its power. And the Brane app makes it easy to set up and equalize, for less bass, more bass, or more more more bass. Listening to jazz with a double bass, one user said, “you can hear all the subtle squeaks of the player’s fingers on the strings.”
If there’s a drawback to a speaker this good, it would only be that it makes the windows rattle. Said one tester: “It makes other portable speakers seem like toys.”
Best Value
Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2
Pros and Cons
⊕ Sound fills the room
⊕ Long battery life
⊗ Controls not all in same place
The German audio engineers at Teuful got together with the American guitar and amp brand Fender to make this thing of beauty. The sleekly designed Rockster Go 2 is smaller than a hardcover airport novel, at eight by four inches, but it pumps out some of the best, bassiest sound in this size range. Much like Bose’s SoundLink Flex—whose latest version weighs in at 1.3 pounds and costs $149—the 1.6-pound Rockster Go 2 amazed us with its “straight-ahead sound quality and musical vividness,” as one tester put it. It goes one step further than Bose with a button that engages what’s called Dynamore virtual stereo sound, an impressive, non-gimmicky feature that seems to magically move the music to the corners of the room. The speaker is unidirectional, but the Dynamore feature does a lot to make it sound good from the front or the back.
The Rockster Go 2 is supposed to last for up to a whopping 28 hours in Eco Mode (which reduces the bass), though you’ll probably get more like the 15 hours it promises in regular mode at medium volume. Quick charging, however, gets you out the door faster if you forgot to plug it in the night before. A short carry strap enables easier toting, and GoPro users will appreciate the quarter-inch threading on the base, which is compatible with camera mounts. Although its range is only 30 feet, one reviewer remarked that “with a design that’s worthy of residing on your bookcase plus its rugged build, this may be the ideal indoor/outdoor speaker in the midsize range.”
Note: The Rockster line includes two other, larger sizes: the $180 Rockster Cross and the monster $480 Rockster Air 2.
Most Portable
Ultimate Ears Miniroll
$80 at Ultimate Ears $72 at Amazon
Pros and Cons
⊕ Very compact
⊕ Impressive sound for its size
⊕ Bungee strap is useful
⊗ Can get only so loud
Over the past decade, the “mini speaker” category has been relentlessly trying to reach a level of sonic quality that sounds so much better than your laptop speaker that it warrants a purchase. With the Miniroll, we may have achieved the singularity. At less than 10 ounces and a fits-in-your-hand five-inch diameter, this grab-and-go disc produced some moments of startling loudness for its size. Physics wouldn’t allow it to be in the same acoustic class as the others in this test, but testers were impressed by what it can do.
Think of the places it can go: With its eminently handy built-in rubber strap, the Miniroll can bungee right over your bike handlebars, onto your belt loop, or—a habit I’ve acquired solely on account of this portable Bluetooth speaker—over the shower curtain rod, so I can keep clean while keeping up with the news. As secure as the strap is, a bouncy bike ride might eventually dislodge it, but with its sturdy build, we wouldn’t be too concerned about damage—and its crazy-long range of 131 feet means you won’t lose connection when you turn around to retrieve it. A PartyUp feature lets you pair multiple Minirolls together for more power or a stereo effect.
Anyone debating whether to pack a speaker for an overseas flight or strap it to a backpack for playing podcasts on a hike can be confident that the Miniroll, with its “road-friendly size and shape,” is well worth the consideration.
Most Rugged
Turtlebox Gen 3
$430 at Turtlebox $430 at Scheels
Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely tough
⊕ Easy to tote
⊕ Smooth sound
⊗ Not cheap
Like Pelican and Otter, Turtlebox thinks in terms of durability that will see you through any terrain on earth, if not other planets. Case in point: The company claims that they were able to park a six-ton monster truck on this speaker, to no ill effect. Encased in super-hard plastic and completely waterproof (even floatable), the Gen 2 has quickly garnered a following among fishermen and watersports enthusiasts for more than being tough. The 120-decibel speaker is “both incredibly loud and impressively refined,” one tester observed. Indeed, our team was hard-pressed to find many differences in audio quality between the Turtlebox 2 and the other top scorers in this year’s test. The unit plays for 25 hours at lower volumes and about six hours at max volume, such as what you’d need for a big party.
During LCD Soundsystem’s “Tribulations,” the bass tones flowed smooth as silk and distortion-free, thanks to the 6-by-9-inch woofer, and, to our surprise, the high and midrange sounds also came across with great clarity. With five color options and an ideal form factor—a lunchbox-size 9.5-pound boombox with a hard nylon handle coated in rubber, plus rubber bumpers on the undercarriage—the Turtlebox Gen 2 gets just about everything right, and its fairly high price tag is less scary when you consider its durability.
Best for Audiophiles
Bose SoundLink Max
Pros and Cons
⊕ Very rich, loud sound
⊕ Long battery life
⊕ Easy to pair
⊗ Needs 5-volt charger; standard USB-C is slow
For those who were wowed by Bose’s 1.3-pound SoundLink Flex (our 2022 Editor’s Choice winner), this larger and far more powerful 4.9-pound edition of the SoundLink will be true love. It punches above its weight, with rich bass and perfect balance in the higher registers. While the addition of a rubber-coated rope handle is both convenient and cute, the sticking-to-basics features from this classic brand made it a bit less fun than other party-ready units in this test. Where Bose beats them, though, is with more subtle orchestral and ambient tracks. Max Richter’s The New Four Seasons came through with a dynamism and presence that was a notch above.
Battery life is 20 hours, range is a passable 30 feet, and Bose’s app is more versatile than those that accompany most speakers, with EQ settings to suit your tastes and listening environment. IP67 water and dust resistance means it’s fine being dropped in the pool for up to 30 minutes. The SoundLink Max does cost a lot for its size, but for those among us who like to just sit and focus on great music, it may be the most ideal—and ideally sized—portable Bluetooth speaker to date.
Best for Parties
Treblab HD-Max
$135 at Amazon $160 at Treblab
Pros and Cons
⊕ Loud volume when wanted
⊕ Great value
⊗ One-dimensional sound
⊗ Confusing LED modes
If you’re looking for a speaker to churn out volume in a big crowd for a fair price, the HD-Max delivers. The sound is not as detailed or three-dimensional as the others in this guide, but that matters less when it’s about a crowd and, as the evening wears on, they’re getting down and boogying. Treblab’s newest offering has the power to fill a sizable outdoor space, and if you want to go a notch higher, a bass-boosting feature adds even more thump. “It makes you feel like dancing,” said one reviewer.
Two other fiesta-friendly novelties are a pair of multicolor lights on either end that can be turned off and on, and a bottle opener on the removable carry strap. It’ll get 20 hours of play time if you keep it at 10 percent volume, but at 100 percent it’s certified for only 6.5 hours—still, enough to get you through the night, or, if not, you can always plug it in. (And the power goes both ways: If your phone is running out of juice, the HD-Max can charge it.) One thing that could use improvement: It’s hard to tell when you’re in indoor, outdoor, or bass mode; they’re indicated by a clunky system that involves deciphering a series of blinking LED lights.
These are small trade-offs when you consider that the HD-Max is a tough-built five-pound, foot-wide boom box that retails for $200—but can be found for 30 percent less than that. Others in its class, like Ultimate Ears’ Hyperboom, usually set you back $350 or $400. When the fun is over and it’s back-to-work time, the speaker has a built-in mic that performs well for conference calls, with an average range of 33 feet. One tester praised the HD-Max for its “combination of sound quality, volume, and portability.”
Best for Travel
Marshall Emberton III
$180 at Marshall $180 at Amazon
Pros and Cons
⊕ Solid, compact, travel-friendly build
⊕ Room-filling sound
⊗ No bass/treble controls on unit
Don’t let the throwback looks of the Emberton III fool you: This technology is far from basic. Marshall’s newest travel Bluetooth speaker has better, more robust sound than its predecessors while adding some new features like Bluetooth LE—a more efficient form of Bluetooth that sucks less energy—and Auracast, an incoming technology that will soon have you wirelessly linking several of your speakers and headphones at once, making a connected life more seamless.
The Emberton III is that one piece of gear you’ll wish you’d packed for your family reunion on the lake this summer. You’ll realize this when you go to play home movies on your tablet with its anemic speaker. You’ll hardly notice the Emberton III in your luggage, at a little over six inches from end to end and only 1.5 pounds—three percent of your checked-bag limit. But you’ll notice it when you fire it up, because, in the words of one tester, “this little thing cranks!”
As with other Marshall speakers, the Emberton III achieves a deceptively dynamic sound quality through “True Stereophonic” multi-directional technology, which replicates the experience of being on a soundstage by moving different tones to different areas of the speaker. One tester noticed the “rich bass notes—not much thump, but clean and clear.” And the well-rounded sound is just as good from the back side as the front.
A whopping 32-hour battery life makes it even more travel-friendly, and a 20-minute quick charge provides six more hours of battery life. The range (thanks to the Bluetooth LE addition) is an excellent 100 feet. And an IP67 rating lets you drop it in the drink (up to three feet deep) with no repercussions (although no testers reported trying this).
One tester summed up his report, “I love the retro looks and small package. It makes a cool statement on the shelf but is small enough you can slip it into your pocket on the way out the door.”
How to Choose the Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker
When shopping for a new outdoor Bluetooth speaker, your first move is to check its IP (ingress protection) rating to get an idea of how much water and dust resistance it offers; these are typically reliable. Next, think about how much you’ll be carrying it around—between house and backyard, say, or moving from campsite to campsite—and whether you’ll be on foot (carrying a pack or duffel, or not) or on wheels. Then consider what makes sense in terms of weight and dimensions. As a general rule, the heavier a speaker is, the more volume you’ll get out of it, but playing it loud isn’t always a necessity—some of you will be entertaining large groups, but others will just be setting it up for mellow creekside cocktail-hour listening with your partner.
If you’re someone who moves around a lot, a portable Bluetooth speaker with long battery life might also make a difference. These days most new models will play for a good 10 hours or more even at high volume, but some are longer-lasting than others, as detailed in the models reviewed here. Finally, more and more models offer “true stereo” linking, where two or more speakers can be paired to play at once but in stereo; this makes smaller models with this option a little more attractive than before, because if you later decide to invest more, you can give your soundscape an appreciable boost.
Finally, don’t assume that if one of the speakers in this list doesn’t sound great to you, it’s your fault. Different folks have different tastes, and some types of music sound better—or worse—on certain speakers. If you make a purchase and are feeling lukewarm afterwards, keep an eye on your return window and don’t feel guilty if you have to exchange it.
How We Tested Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers
- Hours of Testing: 419
- Test Environments: Hiking, pool parties, stand-up paddleboarding, yardwork, movie watching, car camping, making dinner, conference calls
- Highest Elevation: 10,152 feet, Leadville, Colorado
- Lowest Elevation: 5 feet underwater in Lake Pleasant, Arizona
- Most Listened-To Tracks: Bon Iver: “Dijon,” Charli xcx featuring BB Tricks: “Club Classics,” Childish Gambino: “Lithonia,” Drugdealer and Kim Bollinger: “Pictures of You,” Flock of Dimes: “Day One,” Fontaines D.C.: “Favourite,” J Dilla: “Workinonit,” Kenya Grace: “Strangers,” The Hold Steady: “Stuck Between Stations,” Magdalena Bay: “Image,” Prince: “Electric Chair,” Puentes: “Amor y Unidad,” Kathleen Smith: “I Can See for Miles,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: “Challengers”
The first thing we do with any Bluetooth speakers is attempt to pair them with our phones without consulting the user manual: The quicker, more intuitive, and easier the sync, the more points scored. Then we put them through hours of testing doing the kinds of things Outside readers do—soaking in remote hot springs, inviting friends over for outdoor dance parties, playing audiobooks while riding a bike, etc.
Our team turns in reports on each product tested, providing a score of 1 to 10 for five different measures: sound quality, pairing and connectivity, fit and comfort, rain and drop protection, and user friendliness. Scores are averaged, with more weight given to sound quality and (knowing our audience) how well they stand up to the elements. Note: Battery life estimates in these reviews are based on manufacturer specs; it’s difficult to confirm those numbers, given the time involved and variances among user habits (different volumes, different uses, different functions enabled). Actual results may be 10 to 20 percent lower, judging from averages experienced in general testing.
Meet Our Lead Tester
Will Palmer has been testing gear for 21 years for Outside, where he was managing editor and copy chief for nine years. Based in Santa Fe, he has been a runner since 1984, and while the mile counts have decreased over the years, he’s kept motivated to head out the door on the hottest, coldest, and wettest days by the opportunity to test the best new products—and to commune with the junipers and piñons.
